NIT 2012: Updated Bracket and Schedule for March 29

The month of March is coming to a close and, unfortunately, the major college basketball tournaments are getting set to wrap up. However, they aren’t done just yet, and the exciting NIT national championship is finally on the line tonight.

This title game between the No. 3-seeded Stanford Cardinal and the No. 6 Minnesota Golden Gophers promises to be a heated battle, and the winner will have survived a grueling two-week ordeal to claim the championship.

Let’s break down this matchup and check out the bracket right here to see how each team got here.

Stanford vs. Minnesota

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York

When: Thursday, March 29 at 7 p.m. ET

Watch: ESPN

Live Stream: ESPN3

Key Players to Watch

Stanford: Chasson Randle

Randle is the leading scorer for the Cardinal, and it’s hard to imagine the team would have even been competitive in 2011-12 without their star freshman guard.

He’s averaging 13.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest, and is a large reason why Stanford has made it to the final game of the 2012 NIT.

Minnesota: Rodney Williams

The junior forward stepped up and became a star when forward Trevor Mbakwe went down with a season-ending injury.

This kid has been averaging 21 points per game over the four NIT contests, also chipping in a handful of rebounds and assists while doing things that do not appear in the box score, such as leading his team and willing them to victory.

Key Matchup: Backcourt

Both teams have prolific guards, and it’s going to be exciting to see whose backcourt can control the tempo of the game.

The winner of this bloodbath between the Cardinal and Golden Gophers is going to be the team that forces more turnovers and bad shots from the opposition.

Prediction: Minnesota 72, Stanford 70